Dog owners ask the town for more support at the Ulster County Dog Park

Dog owners from New Paltz and beyond enjoy taking their furry friends to the park that was established across from the fairgrounds in 2014. Pet owners love being able to allow their dogs to run around in the enclosed space, socializing with their own kind and getting exercise without scaring passersby or being endangered by high-speed cyclists on the rail trail. 

What those pet owners aren’t particularly good at doing, however, is picking up dog poop. 

The Ulster County Dog Park exists on land that’s leased from the county to the town. From day one county officials made it clear that they didn’t want anything more to do with the project than renewing that lease agreement now and again. It was even stipulated that the park would have to be dismantled if liability insurance wasn’t kept up. When town leaders went along with the plan to open the park in 2014, it was with the understanding that it would have no costs for taxpayers. A nonprofit organization, For Paws of Ulster Inc., was created specifically to get a dog park established and maintained by volunteers — which included raising funds to pay for that insurance, as well as doggie bags. 

When Cliff Rockmueller asked town council members at their September 21 meeting if they could support the park more, Supervisor Neil Bettez recounted some of that history, and what’s gone on since. As early as 2016, volunteers weren’t able to handle all of the mowing that was necessary; town employees started helping out with keeping the grass low. As for poop, there are posts on the park’s [facebook.com/forpawsofulster/] asking for help with feces removal that stretch back years. Park users were always expected to pick up after their own dogs, and while collection stations were on hand, they were also asked to bring the baggies home for disposal if at all possible. While 2020 was a banner year for acquiring pets, it also took a toll on the park’s support. For Paws of Ulster, Inc.’s board shriveled from three members down to one. That was also the year that it became impossible to cover the liability insurance, because donations had dried up. Founder Christie DeBoer asked for town officials to take over that expense, and Bettez agreed. DeBoer later confirmed that the nonprofit is presently being dissolved. 

Keeping the park open is the best option, the supervisor told Rockmueller, but not on the taxpayer’s dime. As Bettez explained it, “We pay more for the dog park than on the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and the Mill Brook Preserve combined,” and future council members may decide that closing the dog park is in the best interests of the taxpayers if that trend continues. 

What Rockmueller was specifically asking for was an account with County Waste — to replace volunteer efforts to remove doggy doo — in this, the only place where dogs may legally run free in New Paltz. What the supervisor suggested was to make this park explicitly a carry-in, carry-out space. Bettez observed that a trash container of any size in that remote location tends to be used by people trying to avoid paying to dump their garbage. 

As for mowing, that could probably be handled without raising the cost. The adjacent Field of Dreams is already mowed, and the supervisor reasoned that the mowed area could be reduced to take on the dog park entirely at no net cost increase. 

One park supporter in the audience asked about how the nearby soccer field is paid for; that involved a $20,000 donation from families and volunteer time to help build, they were told. Use of the pavilion comes with a fee, Bettez said in response to another question. Generally, it appeared that supporters in attendance were reluctant to take on setting up a new nonprofit — which council member Alex Baer suggested — but it was unclear how they felt about making donations to the town government specifically for dog-park maintenance. One person clearly expressed that picking up dog feces must be a town employee duty because “people won’t do that.” 

Chris Marx, who manages buildings and grounds for the town, is one person who will pick up poop. “I won’t make [employees] do that,” Marx said, before adding what may be a ray of hope for the dog-park lovers. “Buildings and grounds was eight people, and now it’s two. I chose to decrease it in that way,” Marx explained. Since then an eight-acre soccer field has been added to town parks, and the amount of grounds maintenance has gone up generally. “I will be asking for an increase in that department,” Marx said, and if the budget line is increased enough, “mowing the dog park is not a big deal. It is right now.” A dedicated parks person would resolve the mowing question, and help address maintenance that is “needed in all our parks.” 

As for the question of whose duty it is to clean up doody, it was not resolved at this meeting.